Being a tourist

I’m not really
sure where to begin…in a good way. =) Sorry for the lack of communication this
past week, read below and you’ll find out what I’ve been up to.

[It’ Tuesday
night] I find myself sitting in a hotel room in Nelspruit, South Africa typing
on an AIM laptop right now. This past week was crazy, triple what normally
happens during an average week and you might get the idea. We had two different
vision teams come to the Nsoko area. (Vision teams can be anything from AIM
staff to NFL wives. This week one of them was the latter.)

Last Monday was
our day off as usual, Tuesday we had women’s group and got a call that one of
the vision teams really wanted come to the women’s meeting that afternoon.
Wednesday we met up with Liz and Neal the real life leaders in Manzini. They
are leaving this part of the world on Saturday and it would be the last time we
would see them here. A trip to Manzini when you don’t have a car of your own is
an all day event so we got on the bus at 8 AM and were there by 10:15. We
stopped by the office, then went to the market and afterwards met up with Liz
and Neal at a nice restaurant/hotel. We talked and ate for 3 hours! Liz and
Neal have almost been substitute “parents” for us when we need them to be.
Earlier in the trip it was their team that prayed through the night for us when
we hadn’t been sleeping very much if at all. This time we talked, prayed, and
they helped debrief some of the struggles we’ve had as a team. We definitely
all still love each other but issues come up when 5 random people live
together, it’s going to happen, it’s inevitable and unavoidable. While we were
praying to close our time together, I literally felt God light a fire in me! And
things have been so different since then!

Thursday we had
an all day women’s retreat with the two vision teams. It started at 8 AM and we
didn’t get home until 6 PM. It was a wonderful day, full of messages from the
vision teams, a lot of things that were given to the women (shirts, shoes,
journal, etc.) and praise and worship. During this time, Lila and Jess found
out that one of the teams was going to go to a safari the next week. They know
me and that if at all possible I didn’t want to leave Africa without going on a
safari. So without my knowing about it, they asked if there was any way I could
go. It turns out that one of the women had to go home early because of business
and her spot was already paid for in full and as their team leader put it, they
were trying to figure out who to bless with that spot. So the plans went
through and I now find myself back in Nelspruit, SA having gone on a quite
successful safari!

This morning,
the first thing we saw were two different sets of lion couples! It’s not every
day, even in Kruger National Park that you are 10 feet away from lions (safely
in a safari vehicle I might add). We then continued on and saw rhinos, buffalo,
giraffes, elephants, monkeys, chameleons and many birds! It was a glorious and
beautiful day! (I tried to upload some of the photos to facebook but no such
luck, I’ll try again next time I have internet)

[It’s Thursday
morning] Yesterday after waking, we traveled to Johannesburg, SA to go to the apartheid
museum and to drop off the team at the airport. I remember watching a show,
years ago, about the apartheid but to see this museum and realize that much of
the movement happened while I was alive was overwhelming and eye opening. South
Africa ended the apartheid in 1994 and the country elected its first black
president, Nelson Mandela. I didn’t know much about the history before the
museum but now I want to learn a lot more. Here’s a link to wikipedia’s article
on the apartheid in South Africa*

I’m now back in
Manzini, Swaziland and making my way back to Nsoko later this afternoon. We are
still raising funds for our event, “Protect me from HIV – Ngilikusasa”*. It has
now changed somewhat and is more of a community wide event for both the
children and young people of the community but still focusing on HIV/AIDS.
Please help us in continuing to raise funds for it. As of now we are about a
fifth of the way there! Thank you so much to those who have already supported
our efforts!

*If the links aren’t working through
email please go to my blog page and try the links from there.